Student - June 24, 2010

The refreshing Forum: 8

I am: in the Forum, the hub of the Wageningen campus. An impressive building with at least 20 thousand square metres of surface, 80 rooms, 5,500 square meters of library and various shops. But can you get a decent bite to eat here to get your strength up after all that serious academic talk?

I eat: a noodle soup to get the digestive juices flowing, a wholemeal club sandwich - salad to salve my conscience - a mixed salad - for the conscience again - and a bowl of big fat fries. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak (luckily).

I taste: Good bread, good soup, good salad, and fantastic fries. Golden on the outside, light and airy inside: many a Dutch chippie could learn a thing or two here. The fact that you are probably being fobbed off with deep-fried sticks of potato puree is beside the point.

I feel: happy. If you are used to the old WUR buildings, the refreshingly modern style of the canteen in this imposing building is like a breath of fresh air. A little touch of luxury at last.

I think: it is a pity the Forum doesn't cater for the demand for (affordable) hot meals. Foreign students, especially, stay away en masse, preferring to eat at home or from a car boot take-away. But as a Dutch person I am satisfied with a sandwich and some fries with mayonnaise. The Forum gets that just right: grade 8 from me.